The Mesquite Solar project is a 400-megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power plant in Arlington, Maricopa County, Arizona, owned by Sempra Generation. The project was constructed in 3 phases using more than 2.1 million crystalline silicon solar panels made by Suntech Power.[1][2]
Construction of Phase 1 over a 3.6 km2 site adjacent the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station began in 2011 and was completed in January 2013.[3][4] It has a nameplate capacity of 150 megawatts (MW) that is contracted through a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).[5] The EPC contractor was Zachry Holdings.[6] Phase 1 cost about $600 million, is projected to generate more than 350 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually (an average of about 40 MW), and will offset roughly 200,000 tons of carbon emissions each year.[6][7]
Mesquite Solar One (August 2012)
Phase 2 (100MW) and Phase 3 (150MW) were both completed in December 2016.[8][9][10] The panels are mounted on single-axis trackers to increase electricity production.
Electricity production[]
Total Facility Generation (Annual Sum from All Units Below)
^Goossens, Ehren (February 3, 2011). "Sempra Buying Suntech Panels for 150-Megawatt Solar Project". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2011-02-06. Scott Crider, a Sempra Generation spokesman, would not give a price for the Mesquite project. Photovoltaic “projects can range from $3.5 to $5.5 million per megawatt, that’s the general industry standard,” he said in an interview.